SPEC: I. notha

Greetings,

I wish someone who is growing this species well would talk about it some. I am
having trouble with it from seed. 

I fell in love with a photograph of this elegant blue spuria and managed to
obtain three  rather inadequate looking seeds from the local botanic garden
before the voles snacked the mother plant into oblivion. I sowed these outside
in January when I sowed the rest of my iris seeds, and they sat there immobile
through spring and summer, germinating in the fall. This plant is now two
years old and looks like a seedling. Figuring it would never be much of a
plant, I then obtained a few seeds from SIGNA last year, which I treated the
same way, and one of which germinated in the fall. I brought it inside for the
winter  because it looked like it was vulnerable, and now it is ready to go
outside. I understand the plant is considered a bit tender. I'd like to get it
to move on and grow, but I am at a loss to know what to do other than what I
have done in past, which has resulted in an  apparently bonsai notha. I've
used good sized pots, friable mix, and I've given lime when  the absence of it
wasn't producing good results. I haven't done much feeding--a little bit of
Osmacote when growth started, but it does get more water than it would in the
wild, I think, because of the afternoon summer showers here. Now, I should say
that I've not had trouble with monnieri, orientalis, graminea, or carthaliniae
from seed although the spurias seem to be slower to get to bloom size for me
than many other species.

Anybody got any information or intuitions, please? 

Anner Whitehead, Richmond,VA  USDA  Zone 7, urban
Henry Hall  henryanner@aol.com
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